april 28- kincora slackpack

I woke up on the morning of april 28 to the sound of all the hikers coming to make breakfast. I wanted to sleep in but there was no point even trying. It was raining outside, and it had rained most of the night. I was feeling pretty good in the morning so i decided to join everyone in slackpacking. I packed a daypack with snack and water and got on the shuttle to the trailhead. Without my pack i can hike pretty fast for a long time without stopping. I wasnt the fastest but i stayed at the front for almost the entire day. The faster ones stayed behiind me to pace themselves. We started the hike with a few tenacious d songs, then i talked to the hiker behind me, sinner, for much of the rest of the 9 mile hike. We passed by laurel falls, the biggest waterfall so far, and began a climb up a rocky hill. It was almost the end of the hike. The whole thing took less than 3 hours. When we got to the end, sinner, who had walked ahead, was drinking a beer. There was a case of yuengling left at the trailhead, so we all had one, then walked individually back to the hostel which is only .3 miles from the trailhead. After i took a shower i made some rice with salmon and shared it with quaker. He's been sharing so much food with me i feel guilty when i dont share with him. Though i dont mind sharing at all. Hes the type of person one would want to share with, Because hes so nice. In fact, later in the day when we got a ride to the store he asked me if i wanted to split a bag of bagels with him. When i agreed and asked how much it was, so i can pay for my half, he said that he means that he will buy the bag, but doesnt need all of them. So he meant to ask if wanted the other half of the bagels that he doesnt need. Very few people on the trail are as nice as him. I spent the rest of the day pretty much just cooking and eating. I tried to make bread from flour, oil water, salt, and spices. i fried the patties of dough, which came out with a similar flavor and texture as flat potato knishes. If it wasnt so messy to make id make em on the trail. I also made popcorn for everyone at the hostel, which was quickly finished. Everyone finally got back from hiking, and the second store shuttle left with the latecomers. When they all got back the hostelgot loud and crowded. I went to my bed and listened to music for a awhile, preferring that over a crowded noisyy room. I came back out after a while, and we played an appalachian trail trivia game that one of the hiker had found at the hostel. We stayed up pretty late, just talking and reading. Its past 11pm right now, and everyone else has gone to sleep. I plan to hike only a few miles tomorrow, but the only shuttles to the trail head are at 8am and 5pm. So i may need to wake up early I realized today how behind schedule i am. I was planning to be in ny in mid june. Ny is about 1400 miles in. Im only 425 miles in. Even if i average 100 miles perweek, which is alot, ill only be about 1000 miles in in west virginia by mid june. I dont want to miss my friend's wedding in june. Hopefully ill be able to get home, or start making really really big mile days. Though the way my ankle is feeling today, im not sure when thatll happen....